U.S. Air Force representatives gathered for the two-day national Grid Security Exercise IV event that simulated joint strategies in response to possible cyber and physical security threats to electricity grid and critical infrastructure in North America.

GridEx IV convened more than 6,500 participants from public and private sectors of the U.S., Canada and Mexico to demonstrate how teams would restore damaged grid infrastructure, the Air Force said Monday.

Defense Department, civilian federal agencies, state and local organizations, banking and telecommunications groups sought to determine communication challenges and worked to develop strategies that could address such problems.

“Participating in exercises like GridEx IV, allows us to test our preparedness plans and ensure the Air Force has resilient energy capabilities to assure our critical defense missions continue during a real-life crisis,” said Mark Correll, deputy assistant secretary for environment, safety and infrastructure at Air Force.

The Missile Defense Agency is surveying the West Coast for potential new locations to deploy missile defense systems, Reuters reported Sunday.

“It’s just a matter of the location, and the MDA making a recommendation as to which site meets their criteria for location, but also the environmental impact,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) told Reuters at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California.

Rogers, chairperson of the strategic forces panel within the House Armed Services Committee, added that multiple sites are vying for the anti-missile system installations.

Reuters reported that Rogers and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Washington) also identified the Lockheed Martin-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system as the potential platform that the government is eyeing to establish on the West Coast.

MDA is yet to receive an order to install THAAD in the region, MDA Deputy Director Rear Adm. Jon Hill‎ commented to Reuters.

The Committee on National Security Systems has implemented a new policy that authorizes officials in charge of secure Defense Department areas to regulate the use of mobile devices in such spaces, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.

The policy released Nov. 20 requires employees, contractors, agents and visitors of facilities that handle top secret information and below to obtain the approval of officials in charge before they bring mobile devices to secure spaces.

Under the policy, officers in charge would need to justify the approval of mobile devices based on mission requirements.

DoD would accept the use of mobile platforms in secure areas for command and control, counterintelligence, testing, training, communication and research and development activities.

The policy also directs officials to identify known and potential risks associated with the use of mobile devices in an area and its surrounding spaces, the report noted.

The U.S. Army wants its next generation of combat vehicles to address challenges associated with urban operations in anticipation of future battles in megacities.

The Army said Thursday it projects that the number of megacities — urban areas with at least 25 million population — will double by 2035, the same year the service branch expects to receive its Next Generation Combat Vehicle platform.

An industry team led by Science Applications International Corp. won a potential eight-year, $237 million contract in September to develop an NGCV prototype.

Gen. Robert Abrams, head of the Army Forces Command, said it is “likely” that the Army’s next battle mission will occur in one of the 25 identified megacities globally.

NGCVs will be designed to address obstacles, large civilian populations and confined spaces in dense urban terrains.

The fighting vehicle may also include a reactive armor, active protection systems, artificial intelligence, autonomy, teaming, advanced target sensors, lasers and the potential for future updates.

Abrams noted that NGCVs should also help reduce the supply line to support faster operations using technologies such as hybrid energy systems, which could lessen the need for fuel resupply convoys.

Abrams noted it is unlikely that all of the Army’s desired features can be built into NGCV, but the list serves as “a green light from the Army to industry to deliver the most capable system that can be produced with existing technology.”

Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, national security adviser under President Donald Trump’s administration, has said the White House’s national security strategy would focus on how to help the U.S. regain its strategic confidence, DoD News reported Sunday.

McMaster said Saturday during his speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California that the administration is set to release its strategy as the country faces security challenges from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and the Islamic State militant organization.

He noted that such a strategy “will focus on protecting our homeland, advancing American prosperity, preserving peace through strength… and finally enhancing American influence.”

“These national security challenges also require a dramatic rethinking of American foreign policy from previous decades,” he added.

McMaster said the national security strategy would require the country to consider and understand four areas in an effort to reclaim that confidence.

Those areas include the values that define the U.S.; instruments of national power; threats the country faces; and the competitive and dynamic nature of the security environment.